http://payingattentiontothesky.com/2011/05/17/reading-selections-from-the-humiliated-hero-by-elizabeth-lev/
Reading Selections from The Humiliated Hero by Elizabeth Lev
May 17, 2011
Annibale Carracci's 1603 oil painting of the Mocking of Christ
Humility But Not HumiliationWe all like our heroes to be humble, but humiliated is another matter. Superman can lose his powers, Batman can take a beating, but even the most die-hard fans balk at seeing their idols ridiculed rather than respected. The same holds true with the Passion of Christ. The history of art has meticulously explored every moment of Christ’s Passion, with particular emphasis on the Last Supper, the Betrayal by Judas and the Crucifixion. Yet other passages describing Christ’s suffering, for example the Mocking of the Christ, have been eschewed by most artists and patrons although the episode is mentioned in all four of the Gospels.
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Sixteenth Century Catholic RomeBut while sixteenth century Catholic Rome understood the value of one’s good name, artists such as Annibale Carracci, Orazio Gentilleschi and Domenico Zampieri invited the faithful to transcend their desire for worldly recognition in search of Heavenly favor. Their meditations on the Mockery of Christ yielded profoundly searching images designed both to disturb and inspire their viewers. Annibale Carracci’s 1603 oil painting of the Mocking of Christ stands out for its intensity and intimacy as only three faces are represented, unlike the throngs that usually encircle Christ. His tormentors remain in shadow as one affixes the crown of thorns to Christ’s head while wagging a finger under His nose. The other man stands behind Christ, his helmet glinting in the darkness as he summons the other soldiers to watch.Christ’s head is at the heart of the canvas, not tall and majestic, but bent low towards the soldier. Jesus responds to the accusatory finger by lifting His bound hands towards the man in a gesture of friendship and brotherhood. Christ’s face, blood spattered and exhausted, nonetheless glows with a warm radiance. He responds to the taunts with an expression of such love that the viewer is taken aback on witnessing this astonishing example of charity.
If the figures could speak, one imagines that the soldier leaning towards Christ would be spitting and laughing as he hailed the “King of the Jews,” while at the same time Jesus, weakly clasping his persecutor’s shoulder, would whisper “I am doing this for you because I love you.” Annibale’s version of the Mocking of Christ is more than a realistic narrative; it is a call to greatness of spirit.
The Modern AgeThe images of the mockery again receded in the modern age, as man’s dominion over the earth progressed by leaps and bounds. Even in Mel Gibson’s meticulously rendered “Passion of the Christ,” where the viewer is not spared a single second of Christ’s physical torture, relatively little time is dedicated to deriding Christ. The tone of the movie emphasizes the heroic-that Jesus could stop the events at any time but doesn’t, and the determination of Christ as He carries the cross to Cavalry. It is always clear that it is Jesus’ free choice to be at the mercy of the crowds. The pathetic, ridiculed Jesus, dejected and forlorn, is difficult to hold in our heroic imagination.
But perhaps it is in this modern age, the era of man who splits atoms, clones living beings and walks on the moon, that the example of the all-powerful Christ, who embraced the humiliation of jeers, taunts and slaps is the most needed to overcome our pride and our fear of rebuke, calumny and scorn. In times of testing, we may hope that recollection of the humiliated Christ will enable us to say with Paul, “Therefore I am content with weakness, with distress, with persecutions and difficulties for the sake of Christ, for when I am powerless, it is then that I am strong.” 2 Corinthians 12:10.
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